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Anecdotally, I watched parents of autistic children become ghosts/shells of who they were. It seemed like much higher divorce rates, and towards the kids reachi

Anecdotally, I watched parents of autistic children become ghosts/shells of who they were. It seemed like much higher divorce rates, and towards the kids reaching highschool just single, burnt out mothers barely holding things together with no social life and their world reduced to just their kid(s). The cure shouldn't just be up to the kids, but to the invisible caregivers who give up way more than average parents.

Scandiravian 2mo ago
I think that's a false dichotomy. The choice is not between putting it all on "invisible caretakers" and forcing a treatment on a child without consent; a treatment that will affect them the rest of their life Here is a list of things that could also be done: - Offer better protection to parents of autistic children in relation to work - Stop trying to "normalise" autistic children in the school system, which leads to severe stress in the children - Provide after-school activities and safe-spaces for autistic children to process and decompress Anecdotally I have yet to meet any parents of autistic people who fit the narrative you provide. I have however met plenty of parents of neurotypical children who do
- _DeadFred_ 2mo ago
  The things you list could have been done already. They aren't going to happen. They all require too much money for the modern world to choose them.
pibaker 2mo ago
The idea that children should be the ones to receive "treatment" for their parents' disorder is the more ghoulish thing I have heard in a while. Not only that, but to take away the children's ability to decide too. If a religious parent becomes sad and divorced because his child came out as gay, should conversion therapy be prescribed just so the parent can stay happily married?
- munksbeer 2mo ago
  Father of an autistic child here. If I could "cure" his negative symptoms with medication, I'd choose it in a blink. Caveat being, I would have to see how it impacted the rest of his personality.
- _DeadFred_ 2mo ago
  Their parents disorders of being non-superhuman normal people who care so deeply about their children that it erodes their lives? What ghouls. Give me a break.
LocalH 2mo ago
No. Parents are often the least informed and least capable of making proper medical decisions for their children.
- _DeadFred_ 2mo ago
  Luckily we have doctors and trained professionals that propose the medical decisions and research that comes up with informed plans like immunization schedules.
  - LocalH 2mo ago
    Unfortunately we also have parents who think that is all absolute bullshit and fail to give their kids access to that medical expertise. We also have parents who believe in "junk science" like "conversion therapy" or "vaccine avoidance". It's not even the slightest of stretches to imagine that a child with a mild case of high-functioning autism might still get this drug because their parents don't believe in such silly terms as "neurodivergence", or worse they see it as a problem that needs fixing.

Scandiravian 2mo ago

I think that's a false dichotomy. The choice is not between putting it all on "invisible caretakers" and forcing a treatment on a child without consent; a treatment that will affect them the rest of their life Here is a list of things that could also be done: - Offer better protection to parents of autistic children in relation to work - Stop trying to "normalise" autistic children in the school system, which leads to severe stress in the children - Provide after-school activities and safe-spaces for autistic children to process and decompress Anecdotally I have yet to meet any parents of autistic people who fit the narrative you provide. I have however met plenty of parents of neurotypical children who do

_DeadFred_ 2mo ago
The things you list could have been done already. They aren't going to happen. They all require too much money for the modern world to choose them.

pibaker 2mo ago

The idea that children should be the ones to receive "treatment" for their parents' disorder is the more ghoulish thing I have heard in a while. Not only that, but to take away the children's ability to decide too. If a religious parent becomes sad and divorced because his child came out as gay, should conversion therapy be prescribed just so the parent can stay happily married?

munksbeer 2mo ago
Father of an autistic child here. If I could "cure" his negative symptoms with medication, I'd choose it in a blink. Caveat being, I would have to see how it impacted the rest of his personality.
_DeadFred_ 2mo ago
Their parents disorders of being non-superhuman normal people who care so deeply about their children that it erodes their lives? What ghouls. Give me a break.

LocalH 2mo ago

No. Parents are often the least informed and least capable of making proper medical decisions for their children.

_DeadFred_ 2mo ago
Luckily we have doctors and trained professionals that propose the medical decisions and research that comes up with informed plans like immunization schedules.
- LocalH 2mo ago
  Unfortunately we also have parents who think that is all absolute bullshit and fail to give their kids access to that medical expertise. We also have parents who believe in "junk science" like "conversion therapy" or "vaccine avoidance". It's not even the slightest of stretches to imagine that a child with a mild case of high-functioning autism might still get this drug because their parents don't believe in such silly terms as "neurodivergence", or worse they see it as a problem that needs fixing.